My Time Working at the Gas Station
by RedEyedWarrior
Summary: Duncan reflects on his time working at a crummy gas station. He hated working there, but at least something good came out of it. And that was love. Oh, and Trent is in it too.


**This is a one-shot written for Writing Spree Day. It focuses on one of the most unusual pairings on the fandom, which I think should get more attention. True, one half of the couple basically dominates the romance section, but the other doesn't. I think he needs more love.**

* * *

Needless to say I hate my bloody life. School was a pain in the hole, but I never thought that things would get much worse for me after I graduated.

I didn't bother go to college. There was no point in it at all. Too much money. I figured I might as well get a job now. I found myself working at some goddamn gas station. Think it's an easy job? Newsflash: the only thing easy about that job is getting it. The rest is a living Hell.

Refilling the petrol and diesel meters, cleaning and unclogging the toilets and all those other maintenance tasks I had to do; I hate how I'd have to do them over and over again. Much better than standing behind the bloody counter. You have to stand there, count the money the customers hand over and compare that to how much the stuff they are buying is gonna cost in total, work the cash register and pretend to be nice to the customers... sounds easy enough? Maybe it would be easier if I was a people person, but even if I was, I hate standing there all day. Plus, many times a day there would be people with kids buying things and their bratty kids would hold tantrums demanding that their parents buy them sweets… it's horrible having to deal with this crap. Thank God nobody trusts me enough to ask me to babysit their kids.

Does the pay make up for it? NO. I get minimum wage. Which is pretty much why I'm still living with my parents. The money is still enough for me to go to clubs on some nights, top up my phone credit, buy the odd chocolate bar and Coke, buy my weed, go to the cinema, go to the gym or buy games, DVDs or CDs. I even save up enough money to buy a new phone when I need one, go to an amusement park, go camping, go fishing or go to metal concerts once or twice.

The truth is, I WANT to move out. I've even been preparing for this. I've learned how to cook, how to use the washing machine and how to perform the maintenance tasks for the house. My parents are annoying. Mom keeps egging me on to date someone and Dad thinks I'm not responsible enough. He's pissed that I'm not going to college and he may never forgive the week I spent in Juvie three years ago for spraying graffiti on the school. Well he can take his problems that he has with me and shove them up his arse. I'm not here to impress him and live up to his expectations when he has four other sons who can do that.

My eldest brother just graduated from college. He has his dream job and he moved out a couple of months ago. I wanted to move in with him but the stuck-up prick chose to be cheap and live in a studio apartment just so he could live alone. My other older brother has only one year left before he's finished with college. He's probably going to do the same thing and move into a studio, leaving me to deal with my nagging mom, my demanding dad and my spoilt younger brothers who just love to piss me off.

That's the one thing I like about my job. I get to escape it all. But there's another reason why the job didn't entirely suck.

It was where I met the love of my life.

It all started when I was standing behind the counter with my friend Gwen. It was early in the morning so there was not many people there. Just me, Gwen, Geoff, Bridgette, Courtney and Trent. Our manager Mr Hatchet is an asshole so we were all happy he was not present. We told us the day before he was taking the day off. But why did he have to leave Trent in charge? Now that I think about it, I would've preferred Mr Hatchet over Trent any day. Trent gave us all nine tasks do be done within nine hours. He also recruited three extra people. But I'll get to that in a minute.

Anyway, Gwen and I were ripping on Trent behind our backs over his beliefs that there are nine gods and that wicked people go to somewhere called 'the Place Devoid of the Number Nine' after they die. While we were talking, we heard a commotion from outside. Then we saw Trent dragging in a guy who used to go to school with me called Harold. I remember how I used to pick on him, but he deserved it.

"What you are doing is illegal!" Harold snarled at Trent. "Curse your inability to register that what you are doing is kidnapping and bonded labour! IDIOT!"

"You are the seventh employee whether you like it or not, or else I will kill you nine times!" Trent threatened. He turned to us and said: "Give this nine-hater nine things to do while I'm gone hiring two more employees."

"Uh… Mr Hatchet is not gonna like this," Gwen mused.

"He'd better like it, if he does not want to end up going to the Place Devoid of the Number Nine!" Trent snarled as he ran out the door.

"Well he did choose to leave Dr Nine in charge so that's his problem," I pointed out. I call out to Harold: "Hey dweeb, we have nine boxes in the storage room for you to lift!"

"I wonder how an idiot like you has managed to get a job here," said Harold. This wasn't him being sarcastic. He was actually surprised that I managed to get a job here. When Courtney showed up, he said the same thing to her, only for Courtney to beat the shit out of him.

Trent returned with the eight 'employee'; a forty-one-year-old dude named Chris. He was our teacher from high school, and I knew Courtney had a crush on him. While Trent was gone, Chris and Courtney snuck into the toilet to slack off. Naturally, this pissed Geoff and Bridgette off because that was what they normally did on a not-so-busy morning. I told them to do it in the storage room and that solved the problem. It was convenient for them that Harold chose to spew out random facts at me and Gwen about things that are completely irrelevant to what I want to do with my life. So I told Harold to go bother Bridgette and Geoff and Geoff gave me the silent treatment for the rest of the day. Maybe he and Bridgette should've gotten a room, but I kept my mouth shut in case he stopped talking to me altogether because he is my best friend.

Finally, Trent returned with the ninth employee.

"Thank you for volunteering!" Trent beamed at him.

"I only did that because you blackmailed me," the man behind him grumbled.

"Well maybe if you weren't talking on the phone while you were driving, then it wouldn't have made a difference because I would've just kidnapped you anyway," Trent shrugged. Anyway, he gave us all nine tasks and so we got to work. The first eight tasks were a living Hell. I dunno what drugs Trent is on, but I do know that building nine 9.9ft tall statues out of clay has got nothing to do with working at the gas station. This was my second-last task for the day, thank fuck.

My last task was to work behind the counter. I hated it, but it was only for 99 minutes and then I could sign out and go home for the next three days. I couldn't wait. Coincidentally, I was standing behind the counter with Trent's third hostage. I can't lie, that guy was hot. But I'm not gonna judge him based on his looks. If he's a prick he can go fuck off and find somebody else. But what better way to get to know him than to have a bit of small talk during our break?

"So what's yer name?" I asked him.

"Devon Joseph, but you can call me DJ," he replied. "Yours?"

"Duncan Crane. Will you be working here for a while?"

"No, your manager is insane," he cringed.

"Relax, he's only filling in for our real manager. He's taking the day off today. Maybe that Trent fella who loves the nine so much will get fired. Though Mr Hatchet will have to fire him nine times to get him fired or else Trent will keep coming back."

"Well I'm not gonna be working here anyway," said DJ. "I have an interview in a couple of days. I'm hoping to work at this restaurant nearby."

"Let's hope you get it," I shrug.

"Thanks Duncan," he beamed.

"So what music do you listen to?" I asked.

"Most sorts of music," he replied. "But I do like listening to Children of Bodom, Rammstein, 30 Seconds to Mars, Slipknot, Disturbed and most other metal artists."

"I never knew you were the type to like metal," I commented. "You come across as being laidback and calm."

"I find it energetic and upbeat," DJ smiled. "What about you?"

"I mostly listen to metal, but I also like Daft Punk," I replied. "I listen to everything that's not girly or lame. What movie genres do you like?" I asked.

"Fantasy, action, adventure, mythology, horror," DJ replied.

"I like those genres as well, especially horror," I replied. "I'm gonna go see that new slasher fic with Geoff after work. You can tag along if you want," I offered.

"Sure," said DJ. I sensed a bit of reluctance in his voice, but I shrugged it off.

"Cool. I'll see ya then so."

* * *

After work I went home to change and have my supper. Afterwards I got into my car and drove off to pick up Geoff. DJ told me when he was leaving he'd meet us at the cinema. Geoff was excited to see him because he told me DJ used to be on his football team in high school. They got along very well. However, Geoff seemed to be surprised that DJ was willing to go see the movie with us. I took no notice of it. We arrived at the cinema and met up with DJ. We paid for the tickets, bought the snacks and picked out seats. I sat in the middle between Geoff and DJ. Geoff wanted me and DJ to get to know each other better since we've just met and he's friends with both of us.

The movie started and the first few minutes in DJ seemed fine. Afterwards, he started to get nervous. With every passing minute he grew slightly more anxious.

When the first scene where someone gets killed is shown, DJ immediately covers his eyes. Geoff and I notice this. I quietly whispered to Geoff:

"Is he alright? He looks nervous."

"I dunno why he's here. He told me didn't like slashers when we hung out in high school," Geoff whispered back. "Maybe you should comfort him," he suggested.

"No way man. I mightn't be his type."

"His ex-boyfriend held his hand the last time DJ watched a scary movie."

"What makes you think he's gonna be my boyfriend?"

"Just do it out of kindness. Besides, after your rough breakup with Brick it's been ten months since you last dated. You have to get yourself back out there, man."

"Well, he is sound," I quietly admitted.

"Then go for it bro," Geoff urged. Slowly, I place my hand on DJ's. For the first ten seconds it didn't seem to work. But I kept it there because Geoff would be pissed and he only just started talking to me again after work ended for forcing him and his girl to put up with Harold while they were shifting.

Eventually, my gesture calmed DJ down. He took a few quiet breathes and put down his hand. He sighed. He noticed my hand on his. I began to blush. When he wasn't looking. I looked at his face to see a bit of red on his cheeks in the dim. Maybe he likes me.

* * *

DJ survived the movie. When it was over, I asked him in the toilets when no one else was there if he was okay.

"I'm fine," he lied.

"Look, it's okay to be scared," I assured him. "I was freaked out the first few times I saw a scary movie."

DJ sighed. "I don't really like scary movies," he confessed.

"You don't?"

"No I don't. I only watched them because my ex said it would help me get over some of my fears," he admitted.

"Look, there's nothing wrong with trying out something that you don't like," I assured him. "But don't like something just to impress others. Besides, if you like fantasy or action/adventure, maybe we could see those movies instead the next time."

"Really?" he asked.

"Really. Besides, there's this new action movie coming out that I want to see but Geoff will be away when it gets released. We could see that."

DJ smiled. "Sure."

Before we left the cinema, I offered him a ride home. Geoff was the first to be dropped off, leaving me with DJ. On the way to his house we talked about other kinds of stuff. When I pulled over outside his house, I said:

"See ya man, Have a good night."

"You too, Duncan," DJ replied. Before he got out of the car, I leaned over and kissed him on the lips. DJ was taken aback at first, but he went along with it and then returned the kiss. About a minute later we pulled away for oxygen. We were both excited and shocked and confused and intrigued at the same time. We shared one last kiss, said we'd see each other again and DJ got out of the car. I watched as he went in the door before driving off. When I returned home, I sat in the car to comprehend what just happened.

So basically that is the main reason why I am glad I worked at that wretched gas station. It did gave me more discipline and motivation to get a better job with better pay (and the pay helped me to finally move out and into my own apartment, which is an added bonus). But all of that was nothing compared to the fact that this job was where DJ and I first met. Since then, DJ and I have been dating and recently we moved in together. Thanks to him, my life no longer sucks.

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**So what do you guys think? I'm thinking maybe the pairing name should be Dcan or DunJ; I'm not fully sure, but it might work. After seeing that episode of **_**All Stars**_** where Duncan asks the bird to borrow the egg and got all emotional over it, I wondered what DJ would think about that. DJ loves animals too. Plus they both got along well in TDI and TDA (though they've rarely interacted since). I also think DJ would make good material for slash, but it's up for the whole fandom to decide. Thanks for reading.**

**So far I've only fulfilled four out of the ten proposals for Writing Spree Day. I hope to make up for it tomorrow though, but don't be disappointed if I don't. I'm not good at keeping promises.**

**Until next time!**


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